“He was a king who had never lost control of anything.”
Kael
I should have left an hour ago.
We had already fulfilled our purpose.
I had seen her, felt the bond confirm what the prophecy had pointed to for years, and watched her live an ordinary evening, completely unaware that anything unusual was happening.
Our visit had a purpose, and that purpose was complete.
There was no reason to be still standing on a quiet human street at midnight.
And yet here I am.
The street around us was utterly silent.
Every house was dark, and every window was shut.
It was the kind of silence that only comes when even the night owls have gone to sleep.
Her window was on the upper left side of the house.
The curtain was drawn, and the light behind it had shifted from soft blue to total darkness.
She was asleep.
I felt it through the bond.
The gentle change in her presence as sleep had softly taken her.
I kept my eyes on the window.
Riven stood beside me without saying a word.
He didn’t suggest leaving, indicating he already understood something I’d yet to admit to myself.
Then it happened.
I don’t know exactly when it started.
One moment, I was in control, standing on the pavement.
Next, the bond surged.
It wasn’t the small pull I’d been managing all day.
It was something stronger and did not wait for permission.
It slipped through her sleeping mind before I could stop it.
And the street disappeared.
Cold hit me first.
Everything changed.
I realised I was no longer on a human street.
I found myself in a forest of ancient trees, tall and endless, their shapes fading into darkness.
The air was heavy and cold, as if untouched for centuries.
This was her dream.
I understood immediately.
The bond had pulled me into her sleeping mind.
I’d heard of this before, in rare cases of bonded pairs forming even before they met properly—a link that could cross into dreams.
I didn’t expect it to happen to me.
My body had shifted, and I was fully in my wolf form, the shape that had hidden itself for years.
But here, in her dream, nothing was holding it back.
I moved quietly through the trees and quickly found her.
She stood in the centre of the forest, barefoot, slowly turning as she looked around.
Her arms were slightly raised, and her movements were unsure.
She had many things on her mind right now.
I could sense her fear through the bond.
She looked down at her hands.
That small moment stayed with me.
It was as if she trusted her hands more than the world around her.
I stayed hidden in the shadows, silent, watching her every move.
I should have left then.
That would have been the logical choice—to leave before the bond deepened.
But once again, I didn’t leave.
I stood here, embracing the atmosphere and her scent.
“…Where am I?” she asked.
Her voice was small and lost.
It disappeared into the forest without an answer.
When the low hum of this place rumbled through the trees, I saw her reaction.
Her body moved before her mind even understood the threat.
She turned toward me.
I stepped back into the shadows so she wouldn’t see me clearly.
It wasn’t fear that made me hide; it was a choice.
The timing wasn’t right.
She wasn’t ready to face this.
That’s what I told myself.
She turned again, scanning the darkness.
“Hello?” she called softly.
I remained silent.
Then she turned fully and saw me.
Or rather, she saw my eyes.
The bond guided her gaze straight to mine, as if something inside her already knew exactly where to look.
We stood there.
Our eyes locked—hers on mine, mine on hers.
I couldn’t explain what I felt.
The forest around us felt completely still.
She should have run.
Every instinct should have told her to run and escape as normal humans do.
But instead, she stepped forward.
She took one small step towards me in a dream she didn’t control.
Something shifted in my chest—I won’t name it now.
It was just there.
She stopped, still looking at me.
“…Who are you?” she asked.
Her voice trembled slightly, but she didn’t look away.
I should have ended it then.
I should have pulled back or let her wake up and erase this moment.
But the bond moved before I did. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
“You heard me before you slept,” I said.
She froze.
The forest, the air, even her breath seemed to stop.
I felt her shock and confusion, but beneath it all, I sensed something deeper forming.
I had no answers to give her.
Then the dream started to break.
I felt the crack spread through her mind.
The forest started to fade like glass shattering from within.
One moment, she was still looking at me.
The next… the street returned.
Cold pavement was under my feet again, and the dark sky above.
Riven was standing exactly where I had left him.
I stood still.
The bond was different now.
It was stronger, her presence clearer.
She was awake.
I turned to leave.
At that moment, her curtain shifted.
It was as if the house itself noticed I was walking away.
I paused and looked once more, but the curtain fell still.
I turned away.
“We leave,” I said.
Riven followed silently.
We walked in silence for a while.
Then he spoke.
“Your hand…”
“I know,” I replied.
He stopped talking.
We crossed back into my realm.
Everything returned to the familiar silence of cold stone and a dark sky.
This was my world, a world that always obeyed its king.
I kept walking, but the bond didn’t fade.
She was still there—far away, but warm and alive.
She didn’t care about my rules or boundaries.
I stopped walking alone in the dark.
Something had changed tonight.
I didn’t want to admit it, but I knew it.
I started walking again.
This changes nothing, I told myself.
The bond remained quiet in response.
I ignored it.
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